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THE FIRE LANDS. 



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Second Historical Period 



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Delivered at the Twenty-third Annual MEETix(i of tije Fire Lands Historical 
Society. (Huron and Erie C(^unties), at Norwalk. 

Ohio, July 4th, 1879. • 



BY CLARK WAOGONER 



1882. 
FuBNisHED poa Publication in the Fokthcomixh Volume ok tse " Pioneer. 




i.cyi^'i^&7 



SECOND HISTORICAL PERIOD OF THE FIRE LANDS,' 

All Address Delivered at the Twenty-Third Annual Meeting of the Fire 
Lands Historical Society, held on the Fair Urounds at Xorwalk, 
Ohio/ July 4th, 1879. 



BY CLARK WAGGONER, ESQ,, OF TOLEDO, O. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gen- 
tlemen : 

In accepting an invitation to ad- 
dress you on this occasion, I could not 
do so as a veritable "Pioneer," since I 
can hardly claim rank among the en- 
terprising, heroic and devoted people, 
who voluntarily surrendered the priv- 
ileges and benefits of established soci- 
ety and came to open up to civiliza- 
tion and development, the wilds of 
this section. Though not a Pioneer, I 
am, nevertheless, the son of Pioneers, 
and probably one of very few persons 
of my age, who can claim the "'Fire 
Lands" as their nativity, 

A decade had hardly elapsed from 
the earliest settlement of this section, 
when your speaker was born to expe- 
riences incident to childhood in a new 
country, many of which came with 
impressions — some of joy and some of 
sorrow — which can never be removed. 
I well remember that my tirst play- 
mate, outside my family, was an In- 
dian boy — Jack Ogontz — a name prom- 
inently identified with the aboriginal 
history of this region, a relative of 
my early play-fellow having supplied 
t'le name first borne by Sandusky, as 



the "Ogontz Place." I remember the 
"Log Cabin," with all that name im- 
plies. I remember the Log School- 
House, Avith greased-paper windows — 
its puncheon floor and puncheon seats 
— its ample fire-place and its pioneer 
"Master." I remember a father's and a 
mother's toils and privations in the 
battle of life, and I often thank God 
for the heroism and fidelity with which 
they fought their battle. With them, 
it is over, and it only remains to me, 
to see that none of the privileges and 
benefits received from them are lost 
or wasted. 

Israel Waggoner, my father, came 
to this County in 1811, and was a mail- 
carrier between the "Mouth of Huron" 
and Mansfield, soon after his arrival 
and when there was but one "clear- 
ing" between the two points. On each 
passage he was compelled to spend a 
night in the woods, and often to rec- 
ognize the unpleasant nearness of the 
wolf and other wild beasts. My na- 
tive place is in Milan Township, and 
on what has since been known as the 
"Waggoner farm," on the Huron Riv- 
er, one mile North of the "Old County 
Seat" and the Abbott farm. My father 



removed his family to Milan ^'illage 
in 1828, where he died in 1857, leaving 
the record of "an honest man,'' still 
*'God's noblest work.'' Mj' mother, Lu- 
cretia Waggoner, then the wife of Pe- 
ter liake, came to the Fire Lands in 
1815; soon after buried her husband; 
and in 1819, was married witli my 
father. She died in October, 1872, Sb% 
years old — as ripe in usefulness and 
honor as she was in life's toils, 

THE WORK OF THE PIONEERS. 

What I say of those so dear to me, 
is also true of the most of tliose who 
shared with them the severe experi- 
ences of wilderness life, whereby the 
"goodly heritage" now enjoyed by their 
-children and successors were provid- 
ed, Tliey came and suffered and toil- 
ed, more for others than for them- 
selves; and they did this not in vain. 
Like our Revolutionary Fathers, they 
"builded better than they knew." The 
Fire Lands of that day present a con- 
dition of development and prosperity 
of which their first settlers could have 
had no conception. My mother has 
often told me of the years of her long- 
ing to see the Erie Canal completed, 
that by the facilities thus to be sup- 
plied, she might some day return to 
her Vermont home and meet her 
friends. JShe did not return by canal, 
but after nearly 40 years of absence, 
she returned by steamer to Buffalo, 
and thence by rail, making the trip in 
36 hours, against the 42 days occupied 
in the outward journey. .Such con- 
trasts indicate sometiiingof the change 
which time and well-directed toils and 
enterprise have wrought for our coun- 
try. God bless the few of these heroic 
adventurers yet spared to enjoy the 
fruits of their labor, and sanctify to 
our just appreciation the memory of 



those, our benefactors, who have ceas- 
ed from earth. As a sou of pioneers, 
and a beneficiary of the courage, wis- 
dom and labors of that class, I deem 
it both a privilege and a duty, on this 
day and in this presence to express 
my sincere thanks to every one of that 
brave and true band, for what they 
did for me and for all who shall, in 
coming time, participate in the fruits 
of their pioneer life. Literally and 
eminently, "their works do follow 
them." 

TAVO STAGES IN PROGRESS. 

In a retrospect of events in this sec- 
tion, two distinct eras or stages ap- 
pear. The first of these — actually com- 
mencing about 1810, but practically 
dating from the close of the war in 
1815 — might be regarded as the Pre- 
paratory Period, occupied chiefly with 
the toils and dangers of wilderness 
life, with numbers too few and scat- 
tered for much attention to the asso- 
ciations and agencies common to es- 
tal)lished society and government. 

The second era I would date from 
about 1825, when the pioneers had so 
well performed their foundation work, 
that old Huron County was ready for 
the advent of those who, upon the 
substruction thus provided, were to 
place the superstructure of advanced 
civilization and permanent institu- 
tions. It was about that time that the 
press, the great agency of intelligence 
and virtue, made its advent, and it 
was not long thereafter, that various 
organizations looking to the intellect- 
ual and moral, as well as the material 
interests of the people, made their ap- 
pearance. The history of the first of 
these two eras, as given by your Soci- 
ety's valuable publication, (the Pion- 
eer), has been mainly completed, so 



far as material is likely to be gather- 
ed from the participants and witnesses 
of that period. In view of this fact, 
and especially of my unfitness for 
speaking at length of real pioneer life, 
it has seemed to me that it would be 
proper at this time, with the brevity 
made necessary by the occasion, to re- 
fer to some of the facts and events 
connected with the second of these 
two divisions of time. 

THE PIONEER PRESS. 

As indicated by facts already given, 
the commencement of my years of ob- 
servation dates with the advent of 
what I have spoken of as the second 
period in Fire Lands history, which 
fact may justify my attempt to speak 
of that time in connection with subse- 
quent events. And since, in the Prov- 
idence of God, printing and journal- 
ism came to constitute my life-work, 
you will not be surprised that I begin 
my references where I began that 
work. In February, 1834 — 45 years 
ago — I became an apprentice in the 
office of the Western Intelligencer, a 
weekly newspaper then published at 
Milan by M. H. Tilden & Co.— the 
senior of the firm being Hon. Myron 
H. Tilden, subsequently of Toledo and 
President Judge of the Common Pleas 
Court of that Circuit, and now of Cin- 
cinnati; and the junior, George M. 
Swan, afterwards at Columbus and in 
Iowa, in which State he died a few 
years since. Those were primitive 
days in journalism. Newspapers were 
small and their '-circulation" limited, 
with what there was maintained 
with much effort. A chief difficulty 
was found in a lack of mail facilities. 
To supplement tliese, some publishers 
resorted to the expedient of supplying 
portions of their subscribers by means 



of carriers, who on horse-back made 
weekly trips on stated routes, deliver- 
ing packages of papers in different 
neighborhoods. My route lay on the 
stage-road from Milan to Florence 
Corners, (10 miles); thence back via 
the "North Kidge Ptoad" to Berlin 
(Center, (now Berlin Heights); and 
thence home by Harper's Corners and 
the "Hine Settlement" — making a ride 
of about 25 miles, which was per- 
formed weekly, with few "postpone- 
ments on account of weather." 
Through the week my time was divid- 
ed between type-setting and other 
work in the office, and the "chores" of 
th& office and house, including the 
chopping of the wood used by both, 
and not excepting the bringing from 
a neighbor's well the supply of water 
required for the weekly "washing" — 
with such other and special service as. 
the "Printer's Devil" was expected to 
perform — and all for the stated sum. 
of $30 per year, "board and washing 
included." I am thus particular, in 
the hope that these facts may show to 
the apprentices of these days, that the 
"hard lot" of earning wages, is not a. 
recent matter— a fact which many 
seem not to understand. And may I be 
allowed to say in this connection, that 
of all my experience in an active life, 
now not short, there is nothing which. 
I review with more satisfaction, than 
that the practical lesson which I learn- 
ed first and best, was the fact that I 
had no rightful claim to any property 
interest or possession that I had not 
earned; and that I value this one les- 
son as a rich reward for all the toil 
and denial which it cost me. At the 
end of IS months' service at Milan, I 
came to Norwalk, and in 1838 com- 
pleted my apprenticeship in the Re- 
flector office, then owned and conduct- 



ed by Samuel and Charles A. rieston, 
names long familiar with and honored 
by many of my hearers. 

1 have materuilly aided my memory 
as to facts and dates in my present 
work, by consultation of the tiles of 
the Reflector, dating from its com- 
mencement, Feb'y 2, 1830. I may here 
remark, that these are the only com- 
plete newspaper liles of the Fire Lands 
press previous to 1843, and hence, they 
are of great value; and I may add, 
that the same record has been pre- 
served to this date, covering over 40 
years of time. 

A CONTRAST. 

I have already indicated some of the 
obstacles with whicli the pioneer press 
contended. A few additional facts will 
give an idea of the change which has 
taken place in that onnection. The 
death of George I"\'. of England, oc- 
curred June 2Gth, 1.S30. The event was 
first made known to the readers of the 
Jle/leclor, August 14th, 49 days there- 
after. The French Revolution of 1830 
commenced July 2Sth, and the excit- 
ing news was published in that paper 
!Septeml)er 21st, after the lapse of .J5 
days. In the New York Spectator, 
Irom which it was copied, the news 
was headed, "Twenty-three Days Later 
From Europe." At that time, we will 
remember, communication with the 
old world was by sail exclusively, and 
so closely were incoming ships watch- 
ed, that the leading Atlantic journals 
kept fast-sailing news-yachts, by 
means of which they could intercept 
ships and obtain their intelligence be- 
fore tliey could reach the port. This 
was the advanced step in journalistic 
enterprise of those days. How won- 
derful the change I First, came the 
ocean steamers, giving regular com- 



munication and changing the time 
from 40 days to 10 days. It was a great 
improvement, to reduce the time by 
75 per cent. ; but how much greater 
that, by which the remaining 25 per 
cent, was obliterated. JS'o other fact 
in human progress, to me seems so 
strange, as the Electric Telegraph, by 
means of which continents and oceans 
alike have ceased to be impediments 
t© communication. -Instead of wait- 
ing 50 to GO days for European news, 
the people of the Fire Lands now re- 
ceive it on the very day, and some- 
times, (by local time,) earlier than the 
occurrence of the events stated. In 
illustration of what the telegraph has 
accomplished in tliis connection, I 
may state, that during the Franco- 
German w'ar, reports of battles fought 
in the interior of the continent, were 
given by the daily press of the United 
States on the same day or the morning 
of tlie next. And, strange as it may 
seem to some, the journals of our 
Western States had more complete re- 
ports than did those of Paris or Lon- 
don. On several occasions, I made 
careful comparison in this respect, 
and found my own paper to contain 
from two to four times as much of 
such intelligence, as did any papers of 
the cities named. This is explained 
by the fact, that each Paris and Lon- 
don journal, as a rule, had only the 
news gathered for and by itself; while 
the press of the United States had not 
only the most desirable of the reports 
of all trans-Atlantic journals, but also 
those of the New York Associated 
Press, and all special reports for the 
Eastern press — thus giving to the 
Western papers the accumulations of 
the enterprise of their contemporaries 
on both shores of the Atlantic. If in 
former years, the public press was a 



"map of busj' life," what is it now ? 
And in the amount of reading sup- 
plied, the change is only less extraor- 
dinary. For instance, the average 
amount of matter given by tlie largest 
Eastern journals 45 years ago, was 
about equal to 40 ordinary book pages ; 
whereas, I have recently purchased 
for five cents each regular issues of a 
paper printed 1,000 miles west of Xew 
York, whose contents w^ould make a 
volume of 400 like pages, of which at 
least 75 were occupied by telegraphic 
reports. This advance is largely due 
to the wonderful increase in facilities 
for the distril)ution of newspapers. 
The neighborhoods which in 1834-5 
depended upon me for the deliverj' — 
once a week — of neAVs 60 days from 
Europe, now receive the same daily 
by Railway, and only one day old. 

FACILITIES IN TRANSPORTATION. 

Turning to the consideration of the 
material development of this country, 
•attention is called first to the intro- 
duction of steam as a power in navi- 
gation, whereby the steamboat and 
the propellor became important agen- 
cies in commerce. It is not necessary 
to my present purpose, to refer to that 
matter, further than to say, that on 
tjie entire chain of Lakes, there was 
no other section that did as much to- 
ward bringing into use this great 
agency, as did the Fire Lands. Hu- 
ron and Sandusky, and especially the 
former, were early prominent as 
steamboat-building points. Milan had 
an active hand in the work. For 
about 25 years the steamer held un- 
disputed sway in the transportation of 
passengers and lighter goods, and to 
it is the West largely indebted for the 
start it got between 1830 and 1855, at 
which latter date Railway competition 



began to make itself felt in a contest 
which has not yet ended. 

THE RAILWAY MOVEMENT. 

Railroads were first introduced in 
England about 1825, but it was sev- 
eral years later before lines of much 
length were built. The value of this 
new agency was at once so far appre- 
ciated in the L" nited States, as to sug- 
gest steps for its introduction here. 
Many of the earlier projects were 
crude, and some of them ludicrous, 
viewed from the stand-point of pres- 
ent development and experience. Thus, 
in December, 1829, Col. Dewitt Clin- 
ton, a Civil Engineer of prominence, 
wrote a letter setting forth the practi- 
cability and advantages of what he 
named the "Great Western Railroad." 
It was to start near New York City, 
ascend the valley of the Tioga River, 
intersect the head-waters of the Gene- 
see and the Alleghany; communicate 
Avith I.ake Erie and cross the Cuya- 
hoga, Maumee, Wabash and other 
streams; and terminate on the east 
bank of the Mississippi at the mouth 
of Rock river. The length of the line 
was placed at 1,050 miles; and the 
time for construction at 10 years. It 
was calculated that freight could be 
transported over the road at 134.75 per 
ton, or #1.73 per 100 lbs; and the time 
for the passage days. The average 
rate for freight from St. Louis to Xew 
York via Xew Orleans at that time 
was $02.50 per ton, and the time about 
50 days. 

Another and counter project, urged 
on the ground of its cheapness, was 
the construction of a Railway over 
substantially the same route, and to 
consist of posts set in tlie earth, 10 
feet apart, which were to be surmount- 
ed with hard-wood plank, 0x3 inches, 



6 



placed edgewise, which were to con- 
stitute a track, of which four were to 
be provided. There was to be no iron 
in the work, except the bolts and nuts 
used in fastening the wood rails to the 
posts. The estimated cost of construct- 
ing 1,000 miles of a four track Eail- 
way of this description, Including 
right of way, was as follows : 

Right of way, $ 532 800 

Lease of mills to saw planks 1 850 

Getting out posts, 31 400 

Bolts and nuts, 211 200 

Levelling posts and laying 

rails, 62 800 

Setting posts, 31 400 

Sawing, 35 500 

Total, $ 906 950 

Chimerical as this scheme now ap- 
pears, it will be borne in mind by 
many that a few years subsequently, 
the Ohio Railroad, to extend from the 
Pennsylvania State line to the Mau- 
mee river, was undertaken, the dis- 
tinctive feature of which was the use 
of piles driven into the earth by steam 
power, and on which the track, to con- 
sist of wood stringers and flat rails, 
was to be placed. After the expendi- 
ture of $219,000 of State bonds and 
the liberal issue of the Company's 
notes, the project was suspended, 
without the completion of any portion 
of the line. 

LOCAL KAILWAY SCHEMES. 

The first important line of Railway 
undertaken in this country, was the 
Baltimore & Ohio, work on which 
was commenced in 1828, and 40 miles 
of which was completed in November, 
1831, that being at the time the longest 
line of Railway in the world. The 
Fire Lands and Northern Ohio were 
not far behind the foremost in this re- 
spect. Among the first Railway chart- 
ers obtained in the West, was one 



for the Milan and Columbus Road, 
(Feb. 11, 1832,) to extend "from the 
head of the Milan Canal Basin, 
through Norwalk, Peru and New 
Haven to Columbus, with branches 
thereof to Mansfield, Sunltury and Mt. 
Vernon." The Road was allowed to 
have "as many sets of tracks as they 
should deem necessary." The corpor- 
ators named in the charter held at 
least one meeting,~but I find no record 
of anothe.'. Of the Railway "might 
have beens" in this section, this is first 
in time and importance. Viewed in the 
light of 47 years' development, how 
easily (seemingly) might this project 
have been made successful ; but it did 
not seem so in the cloud of the former 
period. About the same time, the 
Mad River & Lake Erie Road was 
chartered, to extend from Sandusky to 
Springfield. It was practically the pi- 
oneer Road of the Fire Lands and of 
the State, active operations thereon 
having been commenced Sept. 12, 1835, 
and the track completed to Bellevue 
in 1839. In the meantime, the Erie & 
Kalamazoo Road had been opened 
from Toledo to Adrian, Mich. The 
Monroeville & Sandusky City Railroad 
Company organized June 1, 1835, with 
Isaac Mills, President ; Edward Baker, 
Secretary, and Geo. Hollister, Trea^ 
urer. The Directors were Isaac Mills, 
John Fish, Henry Tice, James Ham- 
ilton, Jr., Geo. Hollister, Richardson 
Eaton, William Neill, Thomas Neill, 
James Hollister and Maj. John G. 
Camp. This was the second Road 
opened on the Fire Lands, having been 
operated for some time with horse- 
power. In March, 1835, the Norwalk 
& Huron Railroad was chartei'ed and 
the Commissioners met at Norwalk 
June 26th, to-wit : Pickett Latimer, 
Obadiah Jenney and Moses Kimball, 



of Norwalk ; Kneeland Townsend, N. 
M. Standart and Ebenezer Merry, of 
Milan ; and Josiah Tracy, John Flee- 
harty, H. W. Jenkins and John B. 
Wilbor, of Huron. In Feb., 1836, this 
Company advertised for bids for grad- 
ing and timber, but these never were 
used. In November, 1835, a meeting 
of delegates from the several towns 
interested was held at Norwalk to 
promote the construction of a Rail- 
road from Akron, via Medina, Nor- 
walk and Lower Sandusky (now Fre- 
mont,) to Perrysburg; but the project 
met the fate of many others. At a 
later date, the Vermillion & Ashland 
Railroad attracted some attention and 
led to the expenditure of some money, 
but no part of the line was completed. 
I need not stop here to detail the 
history of the struggle for supremacy 
which for 2.5 years has been, and still 
is going on, between the sail and the 
rail. It was and is a contest of ab- 
sorbing concern to the West, particu- 
larly, and whatever its results as to 
the interests directly involved, its in- 
cidental benefits to the country are 
highly important, as will be seen from 
the statement of a few facts. 

THE FIRST SHIPMENT OF PRODUCE 

from the Fire Lands was made about 
1825, but there was no regular market 
here until some years later. I well re- 
member the ai rival at the former date 
or thereabout^ of the schooner Red 
Jacket, Capt. Augustus Walker, which 
visited the different farms up the Hu- 
ron river to gather such grain as the 
farmers had to dispose of, when there 
was not an improved harbor on the 
Lakes. The opening of the Erie Canal 
in 1825, furnished for the Lake region 
its first reliable outlet for farm pro- 
ducts.. Before that, there were periods 



when merchandize could not be had 
for anything grown by the settlers, 
who sometimes were compelled to 
hunt and trap for skins and furs, 
with which to purchase clothing for 
their families. With the opening of 
the Erie Canal, the face of things in 
this respect was entirely changed at 
the West. Ohio entered upon her lib- 
eral system of Canals ; Lake harbors 
began to be improved ; the tide of im- 
migration sat in ; vessel building was 
stimulated and steamboat building 
soon followed, in both of which the 
Fire Lands were abreast of the fore- 
most. The first step in that direction, 
was a meeting held at Milan, in July, 
1823, to take measures for the improve- 
ment of the harbor at the mouth of 
Huron river, which resulted in the 
commencement of the work the next 
year. Soon thereafter the Govern- 
ment assumed the work, which has 
since been in its hands. Not satisfied 
with harbor facilities at Huron, the 
people of Milan proposed practically 
to remove that harbor to their own 
place. To that end, the charter for 
the Milan Canal Company was obtain- 
ed in 1829, to construct a Ship-Canal 
from Milan to Huron. The organiza- 
tion was effected in August, 1831, with 
Ebenezer Merry, Ebenezer Andrews, 
Geo. Lockwood, Daniel Hamilton and 
F. W. Fowler, as Directors. Opera- 
tions were commenced the next year, 
but the Canal was not opened until 
July, 1839. This was a heavy under- 
taking for 300 or 400 people, with very 
little of capital. The effect of it was 
to impart much confidence to Milan 
and vicinity, and Canal construction 
was looked upon as a very desirable 
matter with ambitious villagers. Not 
to be outdone by Milan, the people of 
Norwalk projected, but did not under- 



take, a second transfer of the Huron 
harbor, by shick-water improvement 
of Huron river from Mihm to Under- 
hilVs Mills, two miles west of the 
Court House. In the lie/lector of 
April 27, ISoO, is found the advertise- 
ment of a mill-site at Enterprise, by 
Ephraim Munger, one of the noted of 
the pioneers, Avhose persistent pur- 
suit of perpetual motion came to be 
his chi'ef distinction. Mr. Munger said 
of his property : "Witli a little ex- 
pense, it will have the advantage of 
boat navigation down the river to E. 
Merry's mill-pond, in Milan, the place 
intended to be the harbor of the Milan 
Canal; so that flour and other produce 
may be taken in tow-boats a distance 
of two miles, where it may be shipped 
for Lake navigation." 

Three nearly coindident improve- 
ments contributed to the rapid devel- 
opment of this section of country, 
to-wit : The Milan Canal, and the 
Mad lliver and the Monroeville and 
Sandusky Railroads. The first of these, 
for some years attracted the greatest 
amount of interior trade, some idea of 
which may be formed when it is stat- 
ed that from 1842 to 18.j0, iSlilan was 
the chief market for 10 or 12 Counties, 
while it drew grain from south of Co- 
lumbus. At one time, it was 

THE SECOND PKIMAKY GRAIN MARKET 

in the world — Massillon, Ohio, being 
the first, and Odessa, on the Black Sea, 
the third. In one week, 98,000 bushels 
of wheat was received there from 
teams. The Monroeville & Sandusky 
Railroad, when extended south to 
Mansfield and Mt. Vernon, became a 
strong competitor with the Canal. In 
1850 the Cleveland & Columbus Road 
cut into Milan's trade on the south- 
east; and in 1853 the Cleveland & To- 



ledo Road contributed to the final de- 
struction of the traffic on which Mi- 
lan had so long confidently trusted for 
permanent growth and prosperity. In 
due time the Canal was abandoned, 
and its tow-path is now the bed of a 
Railway track. Sandusky, by virtue 
of being a terminus for two Railroads, ' 
has been able largely to maintain its 
importance as a shipping point; but 
aside from that one, the harbors of 
the Fire Lands, as the result of Rail- 
way competition, have substantially 
lost their connnercial importance. In 
itself considered, this is to be regret- 
ted; but when viewed in connection 
with the cause of such deterioration, 
the case appears differently. 

SUGGESTIVE CONTRASTS. 

I liave no means of stating the rates 
of transportation between this section 
and the sea-board earlier than 1840. 
The average market prices for pro- 
duce at Milan from that date to 1846, 
inclusive, were — wheat, 70c ; corn, 32c ; 
flour, 13.50. The rates at New York, 
for the same period, were, wheat $1.10 ; 
corn 70c; flour |5.50. The difference 
between the two points, shows the 
cost of getting the property from the 
one to the other. This cost will be 
more readily seen from the following 
table which also shows the present 
cost of transportation for the same 
articles, to-wit: 

COST OF TRANSPORTATION TO NEW 
YORK. 

Decrease. 



1843-47 



1879. 



Wheat per bu. $0.45. $0.06'^ .$0.:^s,\'-8G per ct. 
(.orn " .40. .06 .84 -85 " 

Flour per bbl. 2.0U. .24 1.76 -88 

A statement showing the average 
market prices of wheat and corn in 
New York and Ohio, in 1840-46, as 
compared with the same in 1879, will 



still more clearly explain the matter, 
as follows : 

1840-46 
Ohio. New York Difference. 



Wheat, $0.60 
Corn, .20 


$1.10 
•62 >3 


$0.60 
A2y, 


1879. 






Ohio. 
Wheat, ?l,t8>i 
Corn, .38 


New York 

$1.20 
.43 


Difference. 

$0.06>i 
.05 



It is thus seen, that with an advant- 
age of 10 cents in New York on wheat, 
it is now worth 533^^ cents more in 
Ohio than at the former period ; while 
in the face of a decline of 19% cents 
on corn in New York, there is in Ohio 
an actual advance of 18 cents, 
showing a comparative gain to the 
producer, as the result of cheaper 
transportation, of Sl}4 cents, or near- 
ly twice the price in Ohio in 1840-46. 
The practical effect of this changed 
condition, is seen in the fact, that 
while formerly it took 2}^ bushels of 
Ohio corn to get one bushel to market, 
now one bushel will market 1}4 bush- 
els, making a difference of 16 to 1 in 
favor of the Ohio farmer. In 1846, 
Illinois corn was used for fuel, for the 
reason that it would not pay freight 
and charges to market ; whereas, now 
the difference between the value of 
corn in central Illinois and New York, 
is not over 9 cents, it being worth in 
the former section 34 cents, against 43 
cents at the seaboard. As so many of 
you will remember, the one great 
drawback in the past to coming West 
and taking cheap farm lands, was the 
fact, that as the lands became cheap 
the cost of transportation increased, 
and the market value of produce de- 
creased accordingly. Thus, in 1840-46 
the Connecticut farmer received 50 cts, 
more for his corn, than did the Oliio 
producer. But matters are now chang- 
ed, and the difference is but 4 cents, 
being a comparative gain to the Oliio 



grower of 46 cents per bushel ; while 
the like gain to the Illinois farmer has 
been 40 cents. 

Again, the average cost for trans- 
porting a bushel of wheat from Ohio 
to Liverpool in 1840-46, was 75 cents. 
Now it is only 15 cents, or one-fifth 
the former ratio. To illustrate the fi- 
nancial effect of this change, it may 
be stated, that the additional value 
thereby given to a single bushel of this 
grain in the hands of the producer^ 
would now purchase 8 yards of good 
prints, 20 pounds of nails, 4 gallons of 
coal oil, 5 pounds of granulated sugar, 
or 2J4 pounds of Rio coffee; while the 
gain on 5 bushels would pay for all 
these. By figuring on his crop, the 
farmer will get some idea of what im- 
provements in the means of transpor- 
tation have done for him. Thus, his 
gain on each acre of 60 bushels of 
corn, is $30, or $21 more than the 
former entire value of the crop. There 
was received at Milan in one day ia 
1847, 18,500 bushels of wheat, all from 
teams, on which the cost for transpor- 
tation to New York was $7,400; and 
to Liverpool $13,875. The present cost 
of marketing that day's receipts, would 
be $925 to New York, and $2,375 to 
Liverpool — making a difference, with 
the producers, of $0,475 in the former, 
and $11,500 in the latter case. It is 
within the recollection of some of mj 
hearers, that a portion of the wheat 
sold at Milan at 60 cents per bushel, 
was hauled by the j>roducers from 
Franklin County— a distance of 100 
miles — paying $24 per load of 40 bush- 
els for raising the grain and a week's 
time in getting it to market. The es- 
timated cost of moving freight by 
teams on common roads, is 15 cents 
per ton per mile. This would make 
the price for transporting the Frank- 



lO 



lin County wheat {i}4 tons to the load) 
$18.00, leaving the farmer $(5.00 for his 
homeward trip, but nothing for rais- 
ing the grain. As a result of reduced 
cost of transportation to the seaboard, 
his load could now be marketed, at 
honw, at $44.00, nearly all of which 
would go to his farm account, instead 
of nothing, as in the former case ; and 
the difference in his favor on each 
acre of 2.5 bushels, would be $27.50, of 
which sum $24.75 would be due to 
cheaper transportation. Our export 
of wheat, corn and flour, (reducing 
flour to bushels) for the past year, is 
placed at 300,000,000 bushels. The 
ocean freight on this was about 10 
cents per bushel, or $30,000,000, against 
$182,000,000. the cost at rates of 35 
years ago — making a gain to the pro- 
ducers of the snug sum of $152,000,000. 
But for the extraordinary reduction in 
internal and ocean rates of transporta- 
tion, however, there could have been 
no such supply of grain; nor could it 
have been marketed, had it been pro- 
duced. In such case, except with un- 
usual scarcity in competing countries, 
the European markets would have 
continued to be virtually closed to our 
producers. And yet, we now virtually 
command that trade, at rates which 
give to the Ohio farmer within 15 
cents of the European market prices. 
Thus it is, chiefly, that we have been 
enabled to create and maintain a bal- 
ance of trade in our favor beyond any- 
thing known to other Xations, Eng- 
land, in some instances, only excepted. 
The amount of this favorable balance 
is about that of our grain export. 

Intimately connected with this mat- 
ter, is another which should not be 
over looked. I refer to the recent ex- 
traordinary improvements in agricul- 
tural machinery and apidiances, with- 



out which the present production 
would be impossible In no other 
branch of industry, has there been 
greater change. Many of my hearers, 
better than I, appreciate this fact. 
They will recall the time when the 
plough, the drag, the scythe, the cra- 
dle, the hand-rake and the hoe consti- 
tuted the farmer's stock of imple- 
ments; while some remember the day 
when the hand-sickle was used in cut- 
ting grain. How great the change, 
wrought by the drill, the planter, the 
cultivator, the mower, the horse-rake, 
the reaper and binder, and other labor- 
saving and crop-saving inventions of 
the present time. But for some of 
these, the present crops, though grown, 
could not be harvested. And for these, 
almost wholly, we are indebted to 
American genius, skill and enterprise, 
since foreign nations depend no more 
upon us for their breadstuffs, than for 
their agricultural appliances. 

It cannot be denied, that the present 
low rates for transportation are large- 
ly due to a degree of competition be- 
tween Railways and the water routes 
and between the Railways themselves, 
which may not hereafter be fully 
maintained. But it is also true, that 
as a result of such competition, the 
actual cost of transportation is con- 
stantly being reduced, which in a 
great measure makes up to capital 
profits which otherwise would not be 
possible. This view is justified by facts 
known to all. In 1840, Mr. Charles 
Ellet, Jr., Chief Engineer of the James 
River & Kanawha Canal and Rail- 
road, stated the reasonable charge for 
rail transportation at 2J^ cents per 
ton per mile; whereas, grain is now 
being taken from the West to the sea- 
board at }4 of one cent per ton per 
mile--being 1-10 of the price named. 



11 



by Mr. Ellet. This low rate is the re- 
sult, in a measure, of undue Railway 
construction and consequent excessive 
competition ; but chiefly to economical 
operation of Railways, not dreamed 
of by Mr. Ellet, which influence must 
continue to be felt in favor of reduc- 
ed rates. 

My fellow-citizens, it has appeared 
to me as quite proper, and I trust 
profitable, in this recurrence of our 
Nation's birth-day, thus briefly to take 
note of the material progress made by 
us as a people. This seems to be spe- 
cially true, in meeting, as many of you 
now do, to commemorate the enter- 
prise, labors, trials and successes of 
the pioneers of this section. From 
such comparisons of the present with 
the past, we all may draw lessons of 
contentment and of gratitude to the 
gracious Providence by which the 



fathers and mothers were permitted 
to provide, and their sons and daugh- 
ters to enjoy, such munificent bless- 
ings. What a rebuke should be the 
contemplation of this grateful topic, 
to the spirit of discontent and unrest 
so frequently manifested of late ! If a 
people in the enjoyment of all these 
manifold and increasing mercies, can- 
not be content to accept them in the 
exercise of reason and thankfulness, 
what but the just reward of the prod- 
igal and the ingrate, can be expected 
for them ? I am sure, that you need 
no appeal or admonition from me. But 
I would suggest that all of us, in our 
respective places, may seek to do 
something toward a more just appre- 
ciation of the distinguished mercies 
which God has vouchsafed to our 
country, and the repression of the 
tendency to untimely agitation and 
disaffection shown in some quarters. 





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